Pensao Smart Estoril

... into this dessert a few minutes ago.

With all this talk of food and pastries, you'd think we'd both be busting our britches but truth be known -- my jeans are fitting a bit looser and we both feel justified with the tremendous amount of distance and strenuous walking we have been doing -- up and down steep streets while gripping the cobblestone surfaces.

We haven't yet made our plans for tomorrow. The Fado Museum ...

... telling me how much they like it there, and now I know why! I went with two girls who are in the same program as me, one of which I hadn't met before! Luckily we all got along and we had a good time.

So, we arrived Friday morning and spent the first day in Lisbon. Since Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, I was expecting a big, busy capital city. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I found quite the opposite! My first ...

... more original looking-maybe not having been destroyed as much by the 1755 earthquake that destroyed so much of Portugal. The town even had the phone wires buried to keep it's original look. We loved the liqueur but only bought a little as it was expensive [by Portuguese standards!] I only heard afterward about the Obidos Chocolate week in March. Might have planned the trips route differently just to fit that in!
After our visit to Christina's we ...

... Costa Rica before we left. I had gotten so much wear out of it and so many compliments that I was very disappointed when it fell to the floor and broke. Across from the Ginjinha stand there was a shot selling different glass beads and they had something similar there. I handed Jim my drink and ran over to get the glass. What happened next Jim will tell you here...... "We had just gotten shots while Stephanie went into the store across the street. I was drinking mine and ...

... wine at every meal except breakfast, at least not yet. I may have to push the limits of wine to bring back on the plane. » For those of you that have made comments about the women I´ve met this will not happen here. The girls are just that, very young college girls. But I have to admit the coed room and shower could prove interesting. Enough of that talk. Until tomorrow....

... down a rain of shouts and hugs. It was all in all a fantastic start to the day. The rest of the day was not quite as exciting; more museums and churches and tours. I like our tour guide, though - she has so much to share and she's so knowledgeable about the history of Portugal and how it is portrayed and recorded in its art. Today we were studying Baroque architecture, which was interesting to me because of my studies of Baroque music, and the two of course go right alongside one another ...

I went to the Taiwan embassy with Dylan. We took the bus 746 by about 13pm and left on Marquês de Pombal. The embassy was near there, and we walked around a bit trying to find the place, guiding ourselves by the mental image we kept in memory from the google maps query we did at home. It was very hot, so it was a relief when we finally found the place. In the embassy, I had 3 interviews. The first one was from the lady who welcomed us, a slim and rather nice woman. Probably the ...

... diepte vallen dicht bij het strand en als het water heel even is gestegen, gaat het anker op. Ja, we hebben nu de stroom mee , de wind is tegen dus het zeil blijft ingepakt. Het is niet druk op de Taag, af en toe een oceaan stomer, maar veel bootjes van de lokale vissers die met sleepnetten de Taag afstropen. Prachtige traditionele bootjes met een soort lier waar het net mee wordt opgetrokken. Verschikkelijk zwaar als je de krachtinspanningen van de mensen op de boten ziet. De hele oever ...

... reconnection with the concept of final landfall. In that moment, emotion washed over me in the pure ambience of travel, a feeling that we travel for like the crossing of a much sought after border in some obscure land. The manifestation of all that time and anticipation. The end of the voyage. I watched the lights slip by as my final watch finished and James came on deck, newly awake, clutching his cup of tea as his eyes adjusted to the new reality. I went below, slipped into my ...

We did the impossible and made it from Marida to Evora (Portugal) on a sunday. It was a mission. We got sent to Badajoz on the border only to be told that there were no trains! So our options were to catch a 3am train or take the bus............ We took the bus. Evora was quiet and pretty so we stayed two nights. The hostel had loads of rolls and jam and coffee so Kev was pretty happy. It took us a while to realise that Portugal has a different daylight savings to Spain and ...